The Main Peak of Yushan—Symbol of the Best in Taiwan

The Taiwanese author Li Ang once said that the most beautiful scenery in Taiwan is to be found in the alpine mountains that cover two-thirds of the island.

Yu­shan is located in the heart of Taiwan, where Nan­tou County’s ­Xinyi Township, Kao­hsiung City’s Tao­yuan District, and ­Chiayi County’s Ali­shan Township come together. Yu­shan has 11 peaks, all of which tower above 3,000 meters. The area is known as “the rooftop of Taiwan.”

Due to the strong winds and thin soil on Taiwan’s alpine peaks, only a few tree species, such as Yushan juniper, will grow up there, and only in stunted form.

Taiwan, which rose from the ocean floor as the result of the ongoing collision at the tectonic boundary of the Eurasian continental plate and the Philippine oceanic plate, has one of the highest concentrations of alpine mountains in the world—roughly 260 peaks of 3,000 meters or higher on an island of just over 36,000 square kilometers.

The main ridges of Yu­shan take more or less the shape of a cross, with the long axis running north–south and the short axis east–west. The main peak is where the axes intersect.

The rock of Yu­shan is composed mainly of metamorphic sandstone and shale. The main peak consists of a large inclined western flank, sharp precipices on both the north and south faces, a steep eastern slope littered with scree, and a western face that drops into a deep gorge. Due to the combination of alpine weathering and the properties of the rock, scree is abundant near the ridgeline.

Surveys made by Japanese scholars during the period of Japan’s colonial rule over Taiwan revealed that Yu­shan has U-shaped valleys and cirque valleys, both formed by glacial action. At about 3,300 meters, for example, one finds complex folding in the rock face to the left of one of the hiking trails, a sign of glacial fluting.

Often called “the rooftop of Taiwan,” Yushan is the tallest peak in Northeast Asia.

The temperature on Yu­shan stays at 10°C or below all year round, and the main peak is snowcapped from late December to April, which further accentuates the mountain’s grandeur. The name “Jade Mountain” derives from the clean, white peak of wintertime.

The first recorded use of the name Yu­shan occurs in the 1697 book Fan Jing Bu Yi (“More About the Barbarian Borderlands”), in which author Yu ­Yonghe writes: “Among the many mountains there, Yu­shan stands the tallest, and can be seen from a great distance. The jagged peaks shine white as silver. Seen from afar, Yu­shan looks much like the snowcapped Mt. Tai­bai. Guarded by sheer peaks on all sides, one may look upon it, but not set foot upon it.”

During the Japanese colonial period, the Japanese called it Nii­taka­yama, or “new highest mountain,” a reference to the fact that Yu­shan is more than 170 meters higher than Mt. Fuji, at 3,776 meters the tallest mountain in Japan.

But is tectonic action affecting the height of Yu­shan? One wonders in particular about the 921 Earthquake of 1999, which had its epicenter in central Taiwan. Is Yu­shan getting taller?

According to Wu He­rong, head of the Interpretation and Education Section at Yu­shan National Park Headquarters, the Ministry of the Interior resurveyed Yu­shan after the 921 Earthquake and found that it had shifted over 40 centimeters in a west-northwesterly direction, but its height was virtually unchanged.

A study has concluded that the northwesterly push of the Philippine oceanic plate is raising Taiwan’s mountains by about two centimeters a year. If so, then Yu­shan should be getting continually higher.

However, notes Professor Lin Jiun-­chuan of the Department of Geography at National Taiwan University, at the same time as the mountains are rising, weathering and other factors whittle constantly away at alpine mountains.

“Yushan is not at rest. Its height is changing,” says Lin, adding that big landslides are an ever-present fact of life in Taiwan’s mountains.

Mountains give people the power to keep moving in a positive direction. Quite often, a hike in the mountains amounts quite literally to a walk in the clouds. The loose shale scree shown here makes for a very tough go. (photo by Lin Xinzhi)

Besides its geological wonders, Yushan is also an aesthetic treasure, showing hikers a different face depending on the season. In spring, the mountain is aflame with azaleas. In summer, thick cloud banks enshroud the slopes. Come autumn, moon daisies cover the hillsides, while winter is the time for snowcapped brilliance.

Wu points out that the forests on Yushan vary according to altitude. Old-growth broadleaf forests and mixed coniferous and broadleaf forests are found at the lower elevations, while coniferous forests predominate at higher elevations before giving way still higher up to alpine tundra.

Wu explains: “If you start out from the foot of Yu­shan and hike up the main peak, you’ll see scenery typical of every latitude from the Tropic of Cancer to the Arctic Circle without having to travel 5,000 kilometers to do it.” The Tropic of Cancer passes through the south peak of Yu­shan. A lot of the other regions in the world through which the Tropic of Cancer passes are deserts, making Yu­shan a bit of a rare scene among landscapes at this latitude.

Professor Lin notes that the alpine plants on Yu­shan are quite unique, and the word “Yu­shan” is actually incorporated into the names of some plants, such as Yushan edelweiss (Leontopodium microphyllum), Yu­shan juniper (Juniperus morrisonicola), and Yu­shan azalea (Rhododendron pseudo­chrys­an­thum).

There are two hiking paths leading up to Yu­shan main peak. Most people choose to start at the Ta­taka trailhead and hike to Pai­yun Lodge, where they spend a night before ascending the peak on day two. The other option is to start at the ­Dongpu trailhead and hike up via Guan­gao and Ba­tong­guan. This route takes an extra day, so fewer people take it.

Crisp autumn weather in October and November make these the best months for hiking on Yu­shan. Summer is not a good hiking season due to frequent typhoons and thunderstorms, and most people are unable to scale the peak in winter due to snow, unless they’ve had special training.

The hiking trails on Yu­shan main peak present only medium-level difficulty. Wu He­rong, who has been up to the peak a dozen times or more, notes that Yu­shan is a favorite challenge for hikers from home and abroad, and among the foreign hikers, the Japanese are the biggest visitors. He once met an 80-year-old member of the Chinese Tai­pei Alpine Association who often leads groups of Japanese hikers up the mountain, which the old gent has ascended more than 800 times.

In 1697, it was written of Yushan: “The jagged peaks shine white as ­silver.” The snowbound slopes of Yushan in wintertime are as ­beautiful as they are forbidding.

As of November 22, 2013, over nearly ten years Yu­­shan National Park had issued a total of 74,670 permits to ascend the peaks of Yu­shan.

Among the top ten landscapes of Taiwan, the main peak of Yushan is one of the least accessible, but for anyone who succeeds in reaching the top, the incredible feeling of having the world at your feet is a powerfully moving experience.

Steve Day, the chairman of Wow­prime Group and an avid hiker who has vowed to scale all of Taiwan’s “100 Best Peaks,” says that the first time he set foot atop the main peak of Yu­shan and saw the many other towering peaks all around it, he suddenly had a flash of new insight into how a corporation should be managed: “No one can be the sole superstar; you have to grow together with your partners.”

­Chiang Hsiu-chen, the first Taiwanese person to climb the highest mountains of each of the seven continents, describes her feeling this way: “Mountains give me the power to keep moving in a positive direction!”

For the people of Taiwan, the soaring main peak of Yu­shan symbolizes precisely this force that propels one toward something higher.